His story is corroborated by Sports Illustrated writer Arash Markazi, a recent USC grad who was with Leinart all evening. Though it's important to note that Markazi isn't exactly Gary Smith — in fact, his SI archive reveals him dangerouslyclose to a Leinartsycophancy; let's just say a search brings up a lot, and at the very least Leinart is Markazi's binkie — he points out that Leinart was mobbed by fans and that if he had been slapped, there would have been a larger commotion than there was. Which seems believable. "I just laugh at this," Leinart told insideusc.com. "I mean, come on, I have a girlfriend I love." Which, uh, doesn't seem believable.

(It's worth noting, by the way, that even though we might cast a little doubt on Leinart's and Markazi's stories, they're certainly more reliable sources than the random dude who emailed the pictures to everyone yesterday. Definitely worth noting.)